Article writing or writing in general

zollynash Level 1

September 20, 2017, 2:57 pm

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Article writing or writing in general

It is becoming more and more a way of living to hear people say they are making money either online or otherwise by writing articles. While there are maybe rules and regulations in terms of the number of words that you can use, correct grammar (Noting different English pronunciations) areas of interest etc.

What thought process do you take to come up with a solid article? Do you write points down or just seat take a deep breath and start writing What is your go to area for coming up with a splendid read regardless of the topic.

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I love doing research and writing articles. I do not do enough of this practice in my freelance work, and I am actively trying to devote more time to it. That being said, I would be writing anyway, on my own, in forums, in journals, and submitting to publications. I have been doing this for years. I do jot down a few rough ideas in the drafting process, and once I figure out a thesis, then I attempt to do the research required in order to make my article solid and scholarly.

7 years ago

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iamawriter

iamawriter

Iwriter is a place where you will get the opportunity to do research as the requesters there encourage you to do it. I have written many articles there and enjoyed the process as in the process I too got to learn a lot myself.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

Hello there, and thank you for this suggestion. I need to further hone my research skills anyway, so if this is a place where I can get paid to write, learn, and research simultaneously, then that sounds pretty darn good to me. Those are three of my favorite things to do anyway, being the English major nerd that I am.

7 years ago

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Painterly

Painterly

I would like to respectfully disagree with iamawriter. That website is a mess for new writers! The requirements state that you must be rated a full 30 times by clients to move up to the next level in which better jobs are available. The trouble is that very few requests come to the bottom level, many of their instructions are formatted in a way that makes actually obeying their orders borderline impossible, not all clients rate, and many rate poorly seemingly just for fun. To make matters worse, there is a rash of clients who are using the public article submissions as a means to hire specific writers, recording a poor score and rejecting your work if you try to take the job. This site takes a predatory stance towards its writers and I recommend you proceed with every caution if you decide to do business with them.

7 years ago

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iamawriter

iamawriter

Unless the rules are now changed, while I was there you just moved up each time your post was accepted. The only thing I did not like was that some requesters just rejected articles with no rhyme or reason and that brought our star down. That is one reason I am not going there now. But that need not happen to all. No harm in trying. To each their own.

7 years ago

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Painterly

Painterly

As far as using paid writing sites to do this I think your options may be very limited. You need to understand that the majority of the clients who hire these services are focused on SEO articles more so than truly informative articles. THe topics you will be writing about will revolve around real estate house descriptions, law firm ad-copy, propaganda pieces designed to boost the reputations of company owners, and the like. You will occasionally find technical article jobs, but only very rarely. The type of person with that information is already hired in a company's PR firm or marketing department, while the freelancers are simply not going to have the type of in-depth knowledge of an industry to produce meaningful content. Thus, these sites are usually not a consideration for that type of job.

If you're willing to learn how to write those types of articles, then that's great! You'll find $2-$5 jobs here and there. But it probably will be a huge waste of your time to try and garner in-depth knowledge for any specific industry if your aim is to write for them. You need to look at the more standard college-employment rout for those types of jobs.

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

I definitely feel that researching new topics is one of the more enjoyable aspects of writing articles. I love doing plenty of my own research and learning about new topics, since I feel it's important that you never stop learning. However, when writing articles for clients you may come across some stuff that you might have never even thought of looking up, so now you can learn about something you had never even expected!

7 years ago

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jkeypad

jkeypad

I write down what my heart and mind says. It's easy for me to take down when I feel sad. I'm not a professional writer, I just like to compose an article about life: my experience, my travel, my passion, and love life. I don't post it on my social media accounts as I don't like to be the center of attention especially my relatives and friends will see it. So, I just keep my notes as possible. To express myself more and improve my writing i join in the community like this where I'm free to say anything.

7 years ago

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tiffiecute

tiffiecute

I totally agree to have a similar case. I am quite preoccupied both for personal and working endeavors. I still don't stop from writing about how I see the world. I want to write how I feel and be very transparent about my views and outlook on every everything.

7 years ago

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mar06

mar06

It depend upon the writer where he or she is compatible of it because there are some writer didn't use that kind of thing. Instead of that they just write it in their own stationary. There are also writer who use that kind of thing so that may be it can help them for their written works.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Personally, during my university days I wrote more articles compared to what I have written post my university days. The reason for this is that during my days in the educational system, we had lots of competition and this prompted me to up my game in order to keep pace with other but my kind of person, I don't like being among the pack, instead I want to be leading the pack. So I did write more and actually brag about it.

7 years ago

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jeffreyjose48

jeffreyjose48

Article writing is much better I think. You have a focus with article writing. You really know what you are going to write with it.

6 years ago

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Kakashi2020

Kakashi2020

It really depends on what kind of content you are writing. If it's an article, it would depend on your familiarity to the topic. I do agree that in most cases a little research is needed to make it more professional.

6 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

I usually write whenever I'm inspired and as I do this very often, it's a relatively easy task most of the time. I don't want to say that I haven't lack of inspiration sometimes, but I usually solve this quickly.

Despite establishing a daily routine with writing, I can only produce the best results when I am inspired.

7 years ago

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Painterly

Painterly

I would argue inspiration is a luxury and not a requirement. Writing is a craft before an artform. Even the most intense inspiration is useless if you don't have a learned proficiency with your tools. It's best to look at this a bit like carving. You get a rough block on the page and then you refine it until it's the shape you want it to be. This has nothing to do with how we feel, and everything to do with whether or not we understand the cadence, subject matter, and have taken the audience into consideration. There will always be a gulf between what piques an audience's interest and what interests a creator. Who are you writing for, in the first place?

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

Writing from inspiration is usually the best way to make some of your most excellent work. Problem is that it isn't always possible, depending on what kind of work you're doing. If you're writing for clients your topics are usually going to depend on what topic they've picked out for you. I think it's best if you are in a position where you can sort of backlog a number of topics, and add to that log every time inspiration strikes you with a certain topic. Otherwise writing about specific topics on demand, and not feeling inspired about them can be such a struggle to get good content out.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

Denis P,

"Otherwise writing about specific topics on demand, and not feeling inspired about them can be such a struggle to get good content out."

I think THIS is a big problem. Writing for obligation is an extremely tedious thing to do. Even if you have established working schedules, good knowledge about the subject and other adjectives, the things doesn't seem to flow normally (it's easy to feel a strange feeling).

7 years ago

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DenisP

DenisP

Yeah it's really the biggest roadblock when it comes to this line of work. Because of that I think it's important to be very formulaic about your writing and have a certain format that you can follow when the inspiration isn't there. I like to think of it like back when I would getting writing assignments in High School. As a 16 year old, the last thing I wanted to write about was the symbolism in some book that I could barely stand reading. But none the less, the work had to be done. The teacher understood not everyone would have an easy time, so we'd take notes on how to format our papers and when and where to include what information. I think the same can be applied to work these days, when you experience blockages in your creative flow.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

JoeMilford

I think that, like you, inspired work, no matter what subject it is about, is the best work. You can almost feel the energy coming off of the screen or the page when someone is writing with an inspired mind on fire and a passionate pen or keyboard. Sometimes, it is hard to write for money or on assignment for others with inspiration, but I do my best to try and get into the work at hand with the best that I have to give at the time. I think that there are no such things as boring topics--there are only possibly bored or boring writers. So, that being said, I try to tell myself that I can be inspired by any subject if I put my mind to it.

7 years ago

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mildredtabitha

mildredtabitha

I also love writing when I am inspired because I am able to produce a meaningful article and inspire my readers too. I have also written articles for clients and non of them needed me to be inspired because I was simply following orders and instructions.

I think writing in general is a wide concept and requires many things.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

Once you lack inspiration to write, there is no need pushing yourself to do a good article because you absolutely cannot. The reason why you can't is that your brain isn't ready to work and help you put in and bring out a high quality content.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

This is true, which is why it helps if you work in a field related to your background, be it from your college degree or personal experiences growing up, or simply writing about your passion. Not only are you more informed about your subject, writing about it also does not feel like a chore, and you get to freely write your thoughts about the topic without the need for very extensive research because you already have some idea about what you are writing about.

7 years ago

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iamawriter

iamawriter

There are certain writing sites that demand articles based on a thought in that the requested has a project in mind and they expect the writer to research and write an article on that project. Iwriter.com is one such site where writers do have to put on their thinking cap

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

I've heard a lot about the Iwriter. Have you written there in a long time? What would be your assessment (in a general way) about it? I mean... Is it worth the try?

That site looks good.

7 years ago

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iamawriter

iamawriter

I was a couple of years ago and did earn quite a bit. There are different levels and I am there still at the standard level where the earning is just around two dollars an articles. The higher levels earn much more.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Tronia

Oh, I have never used the iWriter before. I looked at it and it's basically, you write an article, put it up and then wait for somebody to buy it? Earning depends on some sort of levels? It doesn't sound bad if that's how it works. Might be better than some overpopulated freelancing platforms

7 years ago

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peachpurple

peachpurple

What are the minimum requirement to enroll for Iwriter? I am keen to join in

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

iamwriter,

So, everything works when you write your own articles and you're waiting for someone to show you some interest in whether you can buy it or not? If you don't sell anything, you don't earn anything?

That's it?!

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

I've noticed that a lot of people are mentioning Iwriter. I might have a look at them because I'm doing a bit of paid posting at the moment to earn a bit on the side. But obviously, it isn't that great because the pay tends to be tiny because of how little sites you can do paid posting at. Can you give me an idea of what kind of pay they have per article on Iwriter?

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

I had once entertained that idea of writing an article upon request. It's called commissioned writing which was fine at the outset. But to think that there are notes to follow like the particular topic then that wouldn't be that easy to write. Besides, I might not be able to finish an article on time if it involves a lot of research. What pressures me of a commissioned writing is that it is like taking an essay exam that your teacher will rate it later. I am more comfortable in submitting an article and face rejection or get approval.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Martinsx1

I actually can attest to the difficult task and requirements of some particular sites in requiring more than enough in terms doing a more better job being a writer in the site, and I must confess that www.iwriter.com is one of those difficult sites that requires the best that you have got to offer in order to make it as a writer.

7 years ago

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truthspeaks

truthspeaks

I love writing it's fun I get to put my thoughts into whatever I'm writing about. Writing is thinking in a slow motion. I like to think of my thoughts as a light rain falling upon the ground, and dried up. Occasionally it becomes a stream that runs a short distance before it disappears. There's nothing a like a nice quite warm relaxing place to write.

7 years ago

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wiseagent

wiseagent

Your analogy comparing writing with the rain fall is so interesting, haha. I liked very much and if we stop to pay attention, it makes perfect sense: first a kind of brainstorm happens, then the ideas begin to fall and after a while they simply dry up.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Tronia

Well, I often write for different clients so I don't always have to come up with a topic - they give you the general topic, SEO keywords they want you to include and more. But when I write for my own blog, I tend to get inspiration from other websites. If I find something that I believe many people might not know or might benefit from then I just write down several points that I want to cover and begin writing. If I ever get stuck, I do additional research.

7 years ago

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DarthHazard

DarthHazard

That's the same as me, to be honest. I luckily don't have to worry too much about research because my clients will tend to give me a topic to write about and I only accept topics that I know and have a lot of knowledge in so I tend to not have to research much because I already know most things about that topic. But I do research sometimes if I have to come up with some topics to write about for my own sites.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

I'm always appreciative for the chance to write on a topic that I'm knowledgeable about, that way if any questions arise from my writing, I can more readily answer them. I certainly don't mind doing research to write on an unfamiliar topic (since I love reading and learning new things), but I'm always afraid that this will lead my writing to be very "cookie cutter" on the topic. Meaning I won't necessarily be able to add anything new to the conversation or topic since I'm still learning about it myself.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

Corzhens

I know of some good writers who scan the writings of others not to copy but just to get some inspiration. I don't usually do that but sometimes I read an article and suddenly there would be a spark of idea that my mind would cultivate. And before I finish reading, I had the plot of my own story or the topic that I would be writing which is not similar to the article that I was reading,

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

I started off in my comfort zone writing about the things that I'm familiar with and are within my field of expertise, but as I gain more experience, I eventually accepted everything as they can be pretty fun to work with and there are a lot of resources available online that it's not that difficult to write a nice article even if it's not your field of expertise every once in a while.

7 years ago

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truthspeaks

truthspeaks

Thanks, for reading my post and sharing your thoughts.

7 years ago

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Painterly

Painterly

How I format my early drafts depends on the article size and complexity. Most of this paid writing is SEO copy which rarely gets beyond 700 words. For that type of job I just get my thoughts out on paper. "Get some pain on the canvass", my old art instructor used to say. He loathed a blank canvass and I learned to as well. Once that's done, I do a rudimentary edit for mistakes and then apply the client's parameters ( edit for keywords, backlinking, meta tags, etc). I'll often reshape a paragraph or two to make that flow more smoothly depending on the nature of the keywords or search phrasing.

For larger articles, or those of a highly technical nature, I will do a little more pre-formatting. I'll draft a list of main bullet points I need to cover and think about how to transition from point to point naturally. The larger the article, the more effort it takes to make it read effortlessly, I find. Having that roadmap plotted out actually saves me time in the long run.

7 years ago

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Krisleen

Krisleen

I come up with a solid article by doing my research, arranging my thoughts, and practicing correct spelling and grammar. It is very important to do research as a first step in writing. It is where ideas come from. When ideas are complete, that's time I arrange them through a logical sequence of paragraphs that come up with a story once put together. This makes the article more readable and less cluttered as well. Lastly, I proofread my work. I check on the spelling and grammar to make sure that they are all correct and to make sure that my sentence construction really portrays the message I want to convey.

7 years ago

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TheArticulate

TheArticulate

Great points all around! When I write, I try and stick to areas that I'm already knowledgeable on, but on the occasion that I write not an unfamiliar topic, I really enjoy the research process! Especially in regards to political topics, I love researching the history behind things to get a better understanding on the issue I'm writing about and further developing my opinion.

7 years ago

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mar06

mar06

Since I love writing, I will choose this two things because no matter what kind of writing I would love to have that because that is my passion and that is to write any interesting article that can catch up attention in each people who read my article.

7 years ago

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treecko142

treecko142

Definitely, everything that you write should be based on reliable sources especially when writing something which you aren't that familiar with, you really need to work hard and research. In connection to this, you need to learn how to cite your references properly and not just copy-paste your work.

6 years ago

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